Tuesday, August 04, 2015

'Much Ado About Nothing' by William Shakespeare

4 August 2015

We missed our annual visit to open air theatre in the grounds of Woburn Abbey last year – I think the dates clashed with something else. So it was a particular pleasure to be back at Woburn on Saturday to see the Pantaloons production of Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing'. Tackling such a complex play using just four young actors felt ambitious but worked surprisingly well. The Pantaloons approach is very accessible, inventive and incredibly funny but they also manage to treat the more serious moments with respect. Amongst the slapstick, improvisation, audience involvement and silly hats there is some really good acting. Whether anyone who was not already familiar with 'Much Ado About Nothing' would have followed all the intricacies of the plot, I'm not sure. But it was a very enjoyable evening of open air theatre. We'll be back next year.

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About Me

Since September 2005 Robin Simpson has been Chief Executive of Voluntary Arts, which provides a universal voice for approximately 63,000 voluntary arts groups, across the UK and Ireland, involving more than 10 million participants in creative cultural activities. A keen amateur French horn player, Robin is currently a member of the Northampton Symphony Orchestra. Robin is a perennial ballroom dancing student, a frequent theatre-goer, an enthusiastic reader of contemporary fiction, an insatiable consumer of classical and world music and a keen blogger at www.culturalplayingfield.org and www.culturaldessert.blogspot.com